Hera's Helping Hand
by starry night blue
Summary: COMPLETE - Harry and Ginny's nonexistent relationship receives a little help from above...
1. Boredom Paves Way for All

**A/N: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Well, those who've read A Floo Mishap and The Time Capsule V2010 will find the concept of this story a little bit familiar. I did mention I wrote three stories for the same challenge, didn't I? Hehe. I really had too much time on my hands. Well, anyway, I hope you like this one, too!**

**Hera's Helping Hand**

**Chapter 1: Boredom Paves Way for All**

"Zeus, I'm inexplicably bored..."

Hera, goddess of marriage and childbirth, hadn't had her fun in years now. After one too many interferences with the mortals, her husband and ruler of all the gods, Zeus had forbidden her from getting in the way of nature's course. "Oh, sure, like you've never meddled with their affairs yourself," she had protested, and that had resulted with restrictions even more severe than the ones he'd already bound her with.

She was now gazing into her mirror at one particular house. She'd been watching it for a while now, actually. She had her eyes fixed on two teenagers — a boy with black hair, green eyes and a lighting-shaped scar called Harry Potter, and a girl with long red hair and warm brown eyes called Ginny Weasley. She had seen the way the girl kept looking at the boy, and the boy's obliviousness to her simply irked her. Hera wanted him to return Ginny's affections, but since she wasn't allowed to interfere there was nothing she could do to change his feelings.

Hera looked around imploringly at Zeus. "Come on, darling, I know you're bored as well," she said huskily. She walked up to his throne, her hips swinging provocatively as she did. She knelt down before him and traced circles on his thigh with her finger. "It's been ages since we've done something together. I know you want to play..."

Zeus sighed. "What are you after, Hera?" he said wearily.

She seemed perturbed that her feminine wiles didn't affect him the way she wanted. She pouted and pulled herself up onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his strong chest. "Well, I was thinking maybe we could have a paired activity this time," she suggested. She took his silence as a sign for him to continue. "There are two youngsters I've had my eye on. They are just too perfect for each other, love, but the boy is rather...daft when it comes to these things. I thought maybe we could help him come to terms with his feelings for the girl."

"Who is this boy?" he asked.

Hera hesitated. "You may have heard of him. He goes by Harry Potter," she answered meekly.

"Potter again?!" Zeus roared. Hera flinched. "I told you I never wanted to hear that name in my court again! You couldn't get enough of him, always staring at him in your mirror, spying on him when he's changing..."

Hera flushed. "You're not so innocent! You fancied what's-her-face Evans! You kept stopping her from getting together with James Potter," she said accusingly, causing him to falter. "Harry is hers and James's son. We owe them for all those years we've kept them away from each other. We must have him fall in love with that girl. Are you with me?"

Zeus grumbled, and she knew she had him. "Alright, fine," he admitted defeat. "What do you have in mind?"

Hera grinned mischievously. "Oh, I know just the thing..."

**-----**

"Ron, I absolutely have _no_ idea what you're talking about!"

"Of course you know what I'm talking about, Hermione. We discussed You-Know-Who's re-"

"I mean it! I _really_ do not know what you're talking about!"

This was her queue. Ginny immediately knew when she wasn't wanted around; the stilted tones and raised voices were a direct sign that a serious discussion about You-Know-Who was about to start, one that she wasn't allowed to be a part of. What Hermione was really trying to tell Ron was, "Shut up, you idiot. Your sister's here!" Ginny glanced at the three who were grouped around the Burrow's kitchen table — Hermione was shooting discrete glares at Ron, who was trying to appear, or else being utterly oblivious. Harry, on the other hand, seemed rather weary.

"Never mind that now," he was saying. He gestured at the Wizard Chess board that was lying between him and Ron. "It's your move now, mate. You have to be careful; I think I'm about to win."

Ron's attention was immediately diverged as he sought to consider his next move, but not for long, Ginny observed, as Hermione looked more than ready to pounce on him again. Ginny pushed her chair away from the table and got up to her feet and they all looked at her with bated breath.

"I think I'll just go to bed now," she announced. "Good night. See you in the morning."

She could feel all three pairs of eyes on her back as she walked away from the table. She knew they would start talking as soon as they made sure she was out of earshot. They had been like that ever since summer started. If the whole family was sitting in the living room, they would excuse themselves to Ron's bedroom. Gatherings such as the one they were having right now would conclude with them gradually getting up from the table, or else they'd throw clear hints at Ginny asking her to leave. She wished she knew what they were up to, but they never let her in on their conversations. Obviously, she was still a kid compared to them, which was a load of crap; she was only a year younger.

However, she had barely reached the staircase which led up to the bedrooms, when they heard a loud pop-like explosion coming from the living room. The hairs on Ginny's neck prickled. Were they being attacked? Another thought then crossed her mind — the rest of her family was in the living room.

She joined the trio as they rushed for the living room. Already a hundred images were whizzing around in her head. She tried to push them out, but they wouldn't let her be, and visions of her family's blank, dead expressions kept swimming before her eyes, encouraged by the absence of all sounds from the house. The four had almost reached the doorway when…

"Now look what you've done. Mum is going to punish you for a week!"

They halted at the door. Ginny's idea of several Death Eaters standing in the middle of the living room while the lifeless bodies of her family lie strewn about the place quickly crumpled under the sight before her. Two kids were standing in the middle of the room — one had messy black hair and brown eyes which twinkled with mischief, and the other had long red hair that reached the square of her back and bright green eyes. The girl's hands were on her hips, and she was tapping her foot impatiently against the floor while the boy seemed to be fidgeting with a strange object held between his hands. They seemed utterly oblivious to the people who were standing around them, their wands raised, their expressions ones of complete shock.

"Me?" the boy retorted, his face a mask of indignation. "I haven't done anything! You were the one who suggested we try the Timekey!"

"I only said I _wonder_ what would happen _if_ we tried it! It's your fault for being so stupid, James," she said haughtily. "You had to go and play with the dial!"

"Don't call me stupid!" he huffed.

"I will because you got us into trouble!" the girl snapped. "And you got us here! _Where_ is here, anyway?"

She looked around for the first time and as she glanced at the occupants of the room recognition appeared on her face. Ginny, still standing at the door, looked in wonder at the children. There was something about them…something familiar. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she felt like she _knew_ those children. When the girl's eyes met hers, she felt some sort of connection build up. Maybe it was the fact that the girl had red hair that looked like hers; maybe it was her stance, maybe…

"Mummy!" the girl cried, rushing forward. _Mummy?!_ The girl's arms wrapped around Ginny's waist and her upturned face regarded the older girl pleadingly. "I didn't do anything! It was all James's doing!"

"What? No! Dad, Lily's lying! She put me to it!" the boy protested, stomping over. _Dad?_ Ginny's head swivelled around and she stared as the boy tugged at Harry's shirt. "I told her we shouldn't be touching anything, but she wouldn't listen. She never listens."

"I do listen!"

"Do not!"

"Do, too!"

"Do not!"

As their banter continued, Ginny glanced over at Harry and saw that he was looking utterly flummoxed, and how couldn't he? Here were two kids who looked no older than seven years old, claiming to be their children. What made this so uncanny was that the children looked remarkably like the two of them. Ginny really didn't know what to make of this situation — could these kids really be hers and Harry's children? But _how?_

The girl, apparently called Lily, brought up another issue. "Mum," she said, her voice shrill with alarm. "What happened to your tummy?!"

Ginny looked dazedly at her. "My...tummy?" she repeated.

"Yes! Isn't the baby there anymore?" Lily demanded. "I thought you said a baby was going to come out of your tummy!"

The dull thud in the background indicated that Mrs. Weasley had fainted. In the eccentricity of the situation, however, no one rushed to her aid. Ginny clutched the door frame in an attempt to stop herself from following her mother's suit.

"Mummy?" the little girl said uncertainly. "What's going on?"

_I only wish I knew._

**----**

A few minutes later, the situation had only improved by the revival of Mrs. Weasley after several shots of brandy. The children, named James and Lily, were sandwiched between Ginny and Harry on a sofa, while the rest of the Burrow's current occupants huddled together across from them, watching them warily. Ginny felt like she was being tried for some sort of crime. The children seemed quite pleased that they weren't being scolded for whatever it is they did, and they just contented themselves by nestling close to their parents.

It was Fred who finally broke the silence. "This is priceless," he said, chortling. "Absolutely priceless."

Mrs. Weasley was distraught. "I do not see why you should be making a joke out of this, Fred!" she shot at him. "This is not funny!"

"Lighten up, mum," George piped up. "So Gin and Harry are married with children, what's the big deal? Weren't you always saying how you wanted Harry as a son?"

It wasn't clear who was feeling more embarrassed: Ginny or Molly? Or was it Harry, who hadn't said a word since the beginning of this mess? He was looking stunned, to say the least. He didn't even twitch at George's remark.

"Don't be ridiculous, George. Harry and Ginny are not married and they do not have children," Hermione admonished him. Though, she failed to anticipate what kind of outburst that remark would earn her from the children a little too late. She chanced a look at them and saw that they were looking quite upset. "Erm...I didn't mean-"

"Of course mum and dad are married, Auntie Hermione!" the girl cried tearfully.

"And they do have children!" the boy insisted. "We are their children! You have children, too, Auntie Hermione!"

Hermione's cheeks coloured up immediately, and Ginny thought she saw her steal a glance in Ron's direction. Ron, on the other hand, looked rather livid. "What are her kids like? Are they dark with a thick accent?"

Hermione glared at him. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" she snapped.

"Oh, you know perfectly well what it means," Ron shot back.

"Enough!" Mrs. Weasley barked. She looked like she'd recovered completely from the shock, and she now strode towards the couch on which Ginny and Harry were sitting along with the children. She smiled warmly at them. "James, Lily, it's getting late. Why don't I take you up to bed? Mummy and Daddy will come to tuck you in after a few minutes, alright?"

They protested a little, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. Molly took each of them by the hand and led them out of the room, but not before she shot a meaningful look at Arthur, who promptly took reign of the situation as soon as the children were away. "Well...you definitely know what this means, don't you?" he said to no one in particular.

Hermione picked up the device the children had called the TimeKey and turned it about. "If I'm not mistaken, this is a cross between a Time-Turner and a Portkey...hence the word TimeKey," she declared. "My guess is that those two kids played with it, and it somehow brought them here...from the future."

Bill, who had just dropped by for dinner and hadn't known he was in for a shock like this, frowned. "So, you mean that the children are really...?" he said, letting his voice trail off.

Hermione met Ginny's eye as she spoke up next. "Ginny and Harry's?" she finished Bill's sentence for him, and nodded. "My guess is as good as yours, but if this device is really a what I think it is, then those children may just be Ginny and Harry's kids in the future."

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered.

"But what if they are Death Eaters?" Charlie suddenly interjected. "What if they've come here disguised as children so that they could kill us when we least expect it?"

Arthur Weasley shook his head. "I've set up wards on the Burrow against any sort of outside intrusion, and I've set them up against _all known methods of intrusion_, like Apparition, Portkeys...I've even barred the fireplace," he said. "There is no way a Death Eater could've made his way past those wards. This TimeKey is obviously a device from the future, and the kids are real."

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered again.

As everyone erupted into babbles of conversation around the room, one single thought buzzed in Ginny's head. She could barely contain her joy and excitement, and had to purse her lips together tightly to stop herself from squealing: _Harry and I are going to get married!!_ She dwelled so much on the thought, trying to imagine how they'd hook up, and how their first kiss would be and how their wedding would be, that she didn't hear Hermione calling her name right away.

Ginny blushed. "Yes?" she asked, sounding rather meek.

"We need to get you pregnant," Hermione informed her.

Harry spoke up for the first time then. "What?!" he yelped, looking stricken at the idea. Ginny didn't appreciate how scandalized he looked, but she didn't think she liked Hermione's idea either. She was only fourteen after all! What would everyone at Hogwarts say?

"Weren't you listening?" Hermione admonished them. "The future Ginny is apparently pregnant at the moment, so in order to avoid exposing the children to any sort of trauma; you must play the role of a pregnant woman, until we figure out how to return them to their time, anyway."

Ginny felt somewhat relieved, but she was disappointed at the same time; for the briefest of moments she had imagined that Hermione really wanted her to get pregnant. "So what are you suggesting?" she asked.

"A simple Engorgement Charm would do the trick," Charlie ventured. "We just need your tummy to swell up a bit while we try to understand the mechanism of this TimeKey. So, if you'll let me..."

Ginny automatically recoiled away from him and her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach. "You keep your wand away! I haven't forgotten the time you tried to enlarge Errol! The poor thing hasn't been normal ever since!" she cried.

"I'll do it, Ginny," Bill offered. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at his sister.

"This is so wrong," Arthur was muttering, and Ginny could just begin to imagine what her father was thinking. "This is just too wrong..."

"_Engorgio!_" Bill said firmly.

Ginny gasped as the spell struck her lower abdomen. At first, she felt it convulsing, and then she experienced the weirdest sensation as her belly started bulging against the fabric of her blouse. To her horror, she saw that the strain of the expansion threatened to pop out the buttons and she instinctively yanked the draping on the couch from underneath Harry, causing him to topple over, and used it to cover her self up just as her buttons did indeed pop.

"You cost me my favourite blouse!" she said crossly.

"Our little sister is pregnant!" the twins intoned. "Oh, mum will be over the moon!"

Ginny caught Harry staring at her "bump", but he quickly turned the other way. She felt humiliated; she wanted to smack him around the head or something. The way he was acting made it seem as if he weren't pleased at all by how things were going to turn out in the future. It was as if he didn't like the idea of being married to her, or having kids with her. This made her quite sad. She had hoped this would change the way he thought of her, but apparently not.

...or at least, not if she could help it.

**-----**

"Hera, this is not what I had in mind."

Hera giggled and snuggled under the duvet. "Oh, don't be so _childish_, Zeus. I know you're having fun," she whispered.

"My idea of fun does not involve me being stuck in the body of a scrawny seven-year old," Zeus grumbled from somewhere on the other side of the girl called Ginny. It was a little past midnight, and Ginny and the rest of the family had just gone to bed. Zeus and Hera didn't care to sleep, but they still squeezed eyes shut when their "mother" had come into the room. "Couldn't we have just sent some puppets to do the job? And a _TimeKey_? Couldn't you have been more original?"

Hera propped herself on her elbows so she could peer over Zeus over Ginny's bump. It was taking every ounce of effort not to jump him at the moment, especially with him looking so adorably cute in the body of "James Potter". She chuckled. "You suck at lying, sweetheart," she teased him.

This idea of hers was pure genius. In truth, "Lily Potter" and "James Potter" did not exist, but Hera decided that if she were to convince Harry that he belonged with Ginny, then this trick would most definitely work. The TimeKey was just a useless object, as well. When the others finally got around to figuring out its "mechanism", she and Zeus would just need to pop back to Mt. Olympus with it and that's that. However, with the boy's current attitude, she was having her doubts. On the other hand, she was quite pleased with their acting abilities. Those silly humans had completely bought the Time Travel theory.

"That boy is a real dope. This Weasley girl is too beautiful," Zeus was now murmuring.

"Will you _quit_ groping her?! For goodness sake, she's only fourteen!"

----

**A/N: So…like it? Hate it? Please review!**


	2. Breakfast, Children and Kisses

**A/N: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Hello! I would like to thank you all for the nice reviews you've sent! I know the idea is a bit eccentric but bear with me. Hehe. Oh, and someone asked if this was for a SIYE challenge – yep, it was. Well, anyway, here's the second chapter! Enjoy!**

**Hera's Helping Hand**

Chapter 2: Breakfast, Grandchildren and Kisses

"Mummy, we're hungry..."

It was to a very peculiar feeling indeed that Ginny was woken up to in the morning. She discovered that she was lying on her back, which she found a bit unsettling, especially since the norm for her was to lie face down on the bed. When she attempted to turn over to her side, she found a strange mass constraining her movement, so she tried turning over to her other side, but again the "mass" got in the way. Confused, she tried to sit up and found that it was with much difficulty that she managed to do so. Troubled, she looked down and almost cried out in alarm.

It took her a good few moments to try and recall where her bulging tummy came from, but that didn't make her feel any better about it. She remembered that a voice had woken her up, and she looked around to see who it was. Her two "children" sat at the foot of her bed, looking rather peeved.

"Good morning," she said uncertainly.

James leaned forward on the bed, looking at her imploringly. "We're hungry, mum. We tried to get dad to make us something to eat, but he wouldn't wake up," he whined.

Ginny frowned. Harry woke up at the slightest of noises, so he was probably just plainly ignoring the children, refusing to believe the reality of things. Quite childish of him, really. Sighing, she pushed the duvet away and swung her feet off the side of the bed. "Where's your grandma?" she asked. She felt weird just saying that.

"Everyone's still sleeping," Lily answered.

Ginny forced her self to get up from her soft mattress and she walked over to the children. She caught a glimpse of herself in the dressing table's mirror, and she winced. _Oh my goodness. Am I waddling? I look like a fat duck! Harry will never even look at me now..._

Miserable and wheezing from the weight of her engorged stomach, she led the way down to the kitchen. The absence of the bustling kitchen scene struck her as strange, and she glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. She groaned when she saw that it was 5 am in the morning. _Figures._ She managed a bright smile before turning to look at the kids. "So, what would you like for breakfast?" she inquired.

James's eyes were wide. "We can have anything we want?" he said breathlessly.

"Well...I guess," Ginny replied, feeling like she was somehow being tricked.

"Anything?" he pressed on, and she managed a small nod. He grinned, his face gleaming with the effort of trying to suppress his glee. "I want ice-cream!"

Lily bounced in her seat. "And I want waffles!" she declared.

"Ice-cream? Waffles?" she repeated. "Hold on just a minute! You can't have those for breakfast!"

"But you just said that we could have anything we wanted!" James protested. "You said so! You did! You did!"

Ginny felt cornered; she _did_ say they could have anything. Still, she wasn't going to let a seven-year old trick her into letting him have his way. "I did, but ice-cream and waffles do not qualify as breakfast," she said firmly. "I meant that you could have anything from the breakfast category. Ice-cream and waffles fall into the dessert category."

James looked rather disconcerted, and Ginny thought it was amazing how much he looked like Harry at that moment. She almost wanted to give him and his sister what they wanted, but no: she was a mother, and she had to be firm when dealing with her kids. About an hour later, however, she wished she had let them have it their way; she never knew how difficult it was to prepare a decent, healthy breakfast. She burned the toast and added too much milk to the eggs, and she had almost burned the sausages if Mrs. Weasley hadn't jumped to the rescue.

"You could've woken me up, dear," she admonished her gently, as she tipped the sausages into the children's plates. They started wolfing them down, and Molly looked fondly at them before turning to her daughter. Ginny thought she saw her cringe a bit at the sight of her bump, and remembered bitterly how her mother had cried out in shock when she first saw her.

"I'm not really pregnant, mum," she assured her quietly.

Molly looked flustered. "Of course not, dear. What a silly thing to say," she murmured, but she didn't to meet her eye as she rinsed the saucepan in the sink. "Would you like some scrambled eggs, children?"

Ginny decided she would wash up while the kids had their breakfast. When she reached the staircase, however, she crossed paths with Harry. He tried to move past her, but with her bump being so big, he didn't know how he could manage it without being squished against the wall. Ginny started to move to one side to let him pass, but for some reason she ended up falling against him. She reckoned it wouldn't have been too bad if her stomach hadn't been in the way. In fact, it would've gotten her a hug. But it ended up with Harry falling back with Ginny on top of him.

"Oof!"

Ginny was humiliated. She struggled to push herself away from Harry, who was now looking a little pink in the face. "Sorry," she mumbled, blushing furiously as she finally managed to scramble off of him. "Sorry, Harry."

Once he had managed to stagger away from the staircase, she made a wild dash for her bedroom. She thought she heard Harry call for her, but she didn't care about anything at the moment; she was feeling quite embarrassed to even look at him again. She locked the door behind her and vowed not to get out until those kids and her horrible bump vanished.

Unfortunately for her, Hera's patience was starting to get tested.

**---**

Harry stared helplessly at Ginny's retreating back. He considered going after her and apologizing to her, but the sharp slam of a door upstairs told him otherwise. He felt rather ashamed of himself. He knew he was acting like a prat, but he couldn't help it. He had never thought of Ginny as anything more than his best friend's little sister, so the revelation that he and Ginny were going to get married and have children was a bit too shocking for him.

He heard someone tutting in the background and he was sure he was going to turn to look into Mrs. Weasley's livid face, instead he found his "daughter" frowning at him. Mrs. Weasley was obviously trying to pretend nothing had happened. "Good morning," he said faintly.

"Aren't you going to kiss and make up?" Lily asked innocently.

Harry blinked, and a tiny cough escaped from Molly's lips. "Sorry?" he croaked.

"Oh, come on, daddy," Lily said coyly. Harry felt a little crept out: did she just wink at him? He looked again and saw that she was just smiling innocently at him. "You always kiss and hug mummy when she's upset. You keep kissing her the whole day! I say you should go and kiss her and tell her you're sorry! Right, Jamie?"

James grunted in reply. He was busy stuffing his face with food. Harry swallowed — what should he say to that? He wasn't able to inform this little girl that he couldn't kiss Ginny because...well, they weren't together. That would be sure to make her feel distressed. The most important thing right now, aside from figuring out how to get them back home, was to keep them happy, whether they were his children or not. He was saved the trouble of trying to come up with a casual reply when Hermione and Ron entered the kitchen. It wasn't surprising to see them bickering.

"Oh, lay off, Ronald," Hermione was saying. "Why do you care about whether or not I marry Viktor?"

"I don't care!" he said heatedly. "I just think that you shouldn't be off marrying celebrities who will dump you the first time they see a woman with bigger-"

"Ron, the children," Harry said weakly. "They shouldn't hear this."

"Oh, sorry, mate," Ron murmured, looking sheepish. He sat down on the table across from the children. "Good morning, kids."

For some reason, Lily looked rather cross with her uncle. "Good morning, Uncle Ronald," she muttered. "By the way, speaking of mornings, Uncle Ronald: yours haven't been too good lately, have they?"

Ron appeared taken aback. "Er...why shouldn't they be?" he asked curiously.

"Well, obviously because you have a lot of children...just like Grandma and Grandpa Weasley," she said, smiling sweetly. "You've left them at the daycare again, haven't you?"

There was an instant uproar. Hermione and Mrs. Weasley immediately pounced on him and were attacking him with questions...and in Hermione's case, scathing remarks. Lily continued to munch on her sausages, but Harry could see a mischievous glint in her eyes which rather scared him.

"Oh, Ronniekins! All those children! How many are they, Lily? How many? Eight? Oh, you're going to make me a very happy grandmother!" his mother squealed, She was hugging him so tightly his face was turning rather red.

Hermione, on the other hand, found this to be a source of amusement. "Eight children, Ron? You get on my case simply because I go to the Yule Ball with Viktor, while you get to have eight kids? Oh, you filthy hypocrite," she hissed.

"Oh, I wonder what their names are," Mrs. Weasley said wistfully. "Lily, you couldn't possibly...?"

"Grandma Weasley, not knowing the names of your own grandchildren!" Lily gasped, sounding horrified.

"You have to excuse my memory, darling..." Mrs. Weasley said hastily.

"Humph. Well, of course there's Willamina, Charlotte, Percivilla, Fredwulfa and Georgina, then there's Ronda, Gindlewald and of course...Harriet," she finished with a flourish.

It looked like Hermione and Molly were exercising a lot of control to stop them selves bursting out with laughter. Hermione clamped her hand over her mouth, but tears had sprung to her eyes because she wouldn't release her laugh, while Mrs. Weasley clutched her side and leaned over the counter. Ron looked positively humiliated, and Harry had to hide his horror at the knowledge that Ron was going to name one of his kids after him.

"Yes...I think I'll go and check on Ginny now. Excuse me..."

Leaving Ron to the mercy of his mother and Hermione, Harry hurried up the stairs to Ginny's room. He knocked at the door and waited for his "wife" to respond. When she wouldn't, he knocked again.

"Ginny, I want to talk to you," he called through the door.

"Talk to me? Or _laugh_ at me?" she retorted.

He sighed. "Look, I know I've been acting like such a spoiled git-" he started.

"Yes," she concurred. "You have been a spoiled git."

Harry scowled. "Right...and if you think I'm a spoiled git, then why on Earth did you marry me?" he shot back. He had come here to apologize, and she was just shutting him off; it was annoying him. "You would think that would drive you away."

"I'm afraid I don't have any control over the actions of my future self," Ginny said calmly. "If my future self decided to marry you, then I unfortunately don't have much saying in the matter."

"The same applies to me, then. If I had any control over my future self's actions, then I wouldn't have asked you to marry me in the first place!" he snapped. However, when he heard the quiet sob on the other side of the door, he wished he could take those words back. He sighed. "Look, Ginny, I'm sorry for the way I've been acting, but this situation is proving rather difficult..."

"Oh, easy for you to say," she sniffed. "You're not the one stuck with a huge belly, you selfish git."

Harry gritted his teeth. "I think we've affirmed that I'm a git earlier during the conversation, so can we let it go?" he pleaded. When she didn't respond, he knocked at the door once again. "Could you please open the door so I can talk to you properly?"

"Oh, fine," he heard her mumble. There was the definite sound of a key turning in its lock, and the door swung open. Ginny stood in the doorway. She seemed to be attempting to fold her arms across her chest, but her bump was getting in the way. Harry thought it was cute, but he contained his smile so she wouldn't take any offence. She finally gave up and put her hands on her hips instead. "Well?"

Harry noticed her red-rimmed eyes and felt rather guilty. "Ginny, I just turned 15, but I already have a lot of weight on my shoulders...and I'm still learning to deal," he said quietly. "I barely come out alive out of my school year, and now those kids...how am I supposed to keep them safe while I'm having trouble keeping myself safe?"

Ginny gave him an amused look. "Silly, you don't believe they're staying, do you? I don't wish to be a mum at fourteen, either. They're going back as soon as we know how to get them back," she told him. She paused a moment. "Also...don't you realise what the existence of those kids means?"

"Erm..."

She smiled warmly at him. "You survive, Harry," she said softly. "You survive and you start a family...regardless of who you start it with."

Harry fell silent. He realised he hadn't actually thought about it that way. He was momentarily numbed with shock. It felt pleasant, but shocking nonetheless. The feeling overwhelmed him and his eyes stung a little. _I'm going to survive! I'm going to defeat Voldemort!_ The sensation was so good he was afraid he might be dreaming. He looked at Ginny for affirmation and she gave him a little nod. Harry couldn't help it; he pulled her into a tight hug and buried his face in her hair.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Suddenly everything seemed brighter by several notches, and the crushing weight on his chest lessened considerably. A word that could be used to describe how he felt could be elated. He was so happy, he didn't even realise how long he'd been holding Ginny until she cleared her throat. Harry released her from his arms and beamed at her. "Thank you," he repeated.

"I only stated the obvious," she murmured, blushing.

He grinned happily. "So, what should we do until the time we figure out how to return the kids to their original time?" he asked her.

"Our best bet is to go on pretending that we're actually their parents, I guess," she answered. "Between you and me, though, our kids are a tad bit naive, aren't they? I mean, I'm almost certain we don't look the same as we are now in the future!"

"Yes, but they're our kids, and I'd love them regardless."

Still, what seemed like a good idea when Ginny suggested it, seemed to be greeted differently by the kids. Well, Lily did, James seemed to be like such a peaceful, quiet child. When Lily saw them walking into the kitchen, hand-in-hand, she let out a squeal of delight.

"Yay! Mummy and Daddy made up! They made up!" she cheered. "Did you kiss?"

"Of course we did," Harry said quickly.

A little too quickly, apparently, because Lily gave them a dubious look. "Really? Well, kiss mummy again, daddy! You can't have enough love; that's what you always tell us!" she chirped. "Kiss her, daddy!"

Harry gave Ginny an uncertain look, but her expression was rather unreadable. _You can't have enough love; blimey, I sound like a very cheesy father._ He cautiously placed his hands on each of her shoulders, and slowly leaned down towards Ginny's lips. He found he had never appreciated how full and red Ginny's lips were...

Harry thought he didn't really mind pretending to be married to Ginny.

**----**

"Look, the idiot can't believe his luck. He's almost sucking her lips out," Zeus mumbled between mouthfuls of sausage. "Can we go home now?"

Hera tore her eyes from the sight of Harry and Ginny kissing. "No," she hissed. "This is one kiss. It could mean nothing, and then it could mean everything. We can't leave before we make sure it's the latter. Besides..."

Zeus followed her gaze and saw that she was glaring at a certain Ronald Weasley, who was in turn glaring at Harry and Ginny.

"That brat looks more than ready to stop anything from happening, and I'm not about to go before I've taught him a lesson," Hera said evilly.

"Some goddess you are. Not prejudiced at all."

**----**

**A/N: So? How did you like that chapter? Good? Bad? The next chapter will be the last one! I think I should've mentioned that this was going to be an extremely short story. Ah, well, please review!**

_-__ S. N. B. _


	3. When Gnomes Attack and Blobs Vanish

**D/C: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Hello! I'm back with my third and final chapter! I'm glad you all enjoyed the story; your reviews made me very happy, so…thank you. I will now leave you to read the chapter. I sure do hope you like it!**

**Hera's Helping Hand**

Chapter 3: When Gnomes Attack and Blobs Vanish

Sitting together with Harry on a bench outside the Burrow, watching as the kid ran around the front yard chasing after the gnomes, Ginny could only see something wrong with this image: her huge bump, and the insufferable heat. Together, those two made the worst possible combination. She had never appreciated how difficult it must be for a pregnant woman to carry around such a large weight along with her wherever she went...especially during summer when the weight of one's own clothes was unbearable enough.

Ginny kept fanning herself with her hand all the time in a desperate attempt to bring some cool air her way. She wished she could be inside in the living room where her father had placed a cooling charm, but he and the others were trying to fix the Time Key and the kids were supposedly providing a source of distraction. So, Harry and Ginny, being the "parents" had to take them outside so they could play.

"Ugh, I hate children," she mumbled, as she struggled to sit upright on the bench. Her bum had been starting to slide off the edge of the seat.

Harry looked surprised. "You do?" he inquired.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, and don't act all saintly in hopes that you'll impress me by saying that you do like children," she retorted.

"But I _do_ like children," he replied, sounding mildly surprised.

"Didn't I just tell you not to say you are?"

"So you would rather have me lie to you?"

Ginny frowned at him. "Are you saying that you like children?" she asked.

"Was I giving an impression that implied otherwise?" he said.

"Ugh, I hate you," she mumbled, turning slightly on the bench so that she wouldn't have to look at him.

"No, you don't," he replied. "If you hated me, then you wouldn't have let our...ahem, kiss last any longer than necessary, which you did."

Ginny felt her cheeks warm up considerably. She had all but stopped rewinding their kiss in her mind. Their very first kiss. Even though it had seemed to be forced upon them, Ginny had rather enjoyed it...and she believed that Harry enjoyed it as well; she could tell from the way he had kept stuttering after they'd pulled apart. At that moment, she had really loved that little girl called Lily, even though it was purely for selfish reasons. Of course, a few minutes later, Ginny felt slightly ashamed of herself. This was a child; she shouldn't think of her as means to get free kisses from the boy she loved.

"That doesn't prove anything," she said haughtily. "I was...hormonal."

"Hormonal?"

"That's right."

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "You're hormonal...even though you aren't really pregnant?" he questioned her.

Ginny flushed. "Pregnancy isn't the only thing which makes one hormonal," she said in dignified tones.

She met his gaze defiantly, but he was looking completely blank. It wasn't until a few seconds later that comprehension seemed to dawn upon his face, and his cheeks gradually started colouring up. He looked down into his lap and twiddled his thumbs. He stole a few glances at her, and fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. "Oh," he murmured.

"Yes."

"It's that time of the month, huh?"

It was Ginny's turn to blush. She didn't expect Harry to come outright and say it. She had expected him to just look embarrassed and change the subject completely; she didn't think he'd actually question her about it. Even her brothers avoided that subject. She swallowed. The thing was; it wasn't even that time of the month. She had just said that so he would stop pestering her about the kiss. But he didn't need to know that. He wasn't going to go snooping around the bathroom after she was done with it...was he?

"Ginny?"

Ginny looked stoically ahead. "Just because you're my pretend husband doesn't mean you need to know every single detail about my personal life," she said sharply. "When have you become so interested in my own private matters, anyway?"

"When I found out you're going to be the mother of my children, of course," he replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "If you hate me now, then those children will never exist."

"Well, good," she muttered. "I hate you."

"You're just bitter because I'm not carrying a bump of my own," he said, sounding bemused.

"I'm not so frivolous!!" she hissed.

"If I asked Bill to give me a bump, would that make me feel better?" he pressed on.

"Don't be silly, Harry. You can't have a bump," she replied, rolling her eyes at him.

"I can if I wanted to."

"But you're a _guy_..."

"That's so sexist of you, Ginny. Who's to say a guy can't have a bump?"

"You're bonkers! A guy can't be pregnant! That has to be the stupidest thing I've heard in a while, and since I live with Ron...well, that's _something!_" she retorted. She was staring at Harry in shock; that was the boy she'd had a crush on for so long? She suddenly felt rather disappointed. She hadn't expected Harry to be like this. He was quite irrational and wasn't speaking a lot of sense.

She frowned when he grinned. When he started laughing she realised she had been led on and she swatted his arm. "You prat! You were just pulling my leg!" she huffed.

"No, actually, I was being supportive. Isn't that what a good husband is supposed to do?" he replied.

She sighed. "Will you stop saying that? You and I both know that once those children are sent back you're going to go back to drooling over that picture of Cho Chang Colin took for you," she mumbled.

"O-oy! How do you know about that picture?" he demanded, looking rather red in the face.

Ginny struggled to stop herself from grinning — it was an old habit of hers, poking around Harry's things while he wasn't looking. But she wasn't about to let him know that; she wasn't allow him to turn into the victim here. "That's not the point," she said, quickly brushing his protest aside. "The point is once this over, I'll just go back to being your best mate's sister, so I'd rather we keep it that way now. No need to cause any more damage, is there?"

She was trying to appear strong, but already tears were stinging her eyes. It had felt wonderful being close to Harry, even if it were for a short while. Part of her wished the children would stay so she could maintain that sense of closeness, but the other, more rational part knew that somewhere in another dimension an adult Harry and an adult Ginny were freaking out about their kids. She couldn't be selfish...

"Are you stupid?"

She looked up. "Excuse me?"

Ginny flinched when he touched her arm, but he didn't draw his hand back. "I'll be honest with you, Ginny, you're right; I never thought of you as more than Ron's sister...before yesterday, that is," he told her. "Those children put you in a completely different light-"

She scoffed loudly.

"Don't be like that," he admonished her. "I told you this morning, I'm extremely happy that I grow up to see my own kids, and if you're the one who walks with me along the way, then that's fine, too."

"Wow, that's flattering," she muttered.

Harry's cheeks became slightly tinged with pink. "My social skills need a bit of polishing," he admitted. "Really, though...you're pretty, and smart, and you obviously have lots of other good qualities if my adult self decided you're the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and...hey, why are you laughing?"

Ginny had doubled over her knees as much as her bump would allow her and she was laughing. She could feel Harry's eyes on her hunched up figure as he stared at her in bewilderment but that didn't help stop her laughter. She was wiping tears of mirth from her eyes when she straightened up. "You really have no idea how to chat up a girl, do you?" she mused.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Well..."

"Mummy has a pretty laugh, doesn't she?"

The pair almost jumped out of their skin. They had been so involved with each other's presence that they'd momentarily forgotten about the kids. While James continued to chase the gnomes around, Lily had apparently decided to invade her parents' privacy. She stood next to them, fingers knotted together behind her back, and she smiled sweetly at them.

"You think she has a pretty laugh, too, don't you, Daddy?" Lily pressed on.

"Erm...yes, of course I do," Harry agreed.

"Daddy _always_ tells me how much he loves your laugh, Mummy," Lily continued, maintaining that wide grin of hers. "He says it brightens his days all the time. And when you do laugh, Daddy sometimes takes you between his arms and kisses you." She sighed. "It's so romantic."

Ginny raised her eyebrow at Harry, before turning to look at the girl. "Sweetie, you know, it's not okay to look at Mummy and Daddy when they're alone," she told her gently.

Lily looked like she'd received a smack in the face. Her cheeks coloured up immediately and she looked down at her tiny feet. "I'm...I'm sorry, Mummy," she murmured. "It's just...you and Daddy look so happy together, and I just wish that one day I'll find someone that I love and be as happy with him as you two are."

"Aw, darling, come here," Harry said, scooping her into his arms. He glanced at Ginny, and quietly mouthed at her, _"Our daughter has issues."_

Ginny frowned at him. _"Why are you looking at me like it's my fault? She's your kid, too," _she mouthed back at him. She rubbed Lily's back. "You'll find your prince soon, sweetheart, and you'll both live happily ever after, you'll see," she promised her.

_"I'm just saying. Either that, or we're really irresponsible parents,"_ he retorted. He kissed the top of his daughter's head. "Yes, what your mother said. Now run along and play with your brother."

"Yes, Daddy!"

She skipped away from them, but stopped a short distance later to peer at them. A few steps forward next and she was again glancing back to where they were sitting. Ginny watched her bemusedly, wondering how on Earth she'd give birth to such an eccentric girl.

"Erm...Ginny, I think she expects to see me kissing you," Harry remarked.

"Oh."

"I guess we should...you know, so that she wouldn't be suspicious...if you don't mind..." he said quickly.

"Why do you make it sound like it's such a curse? Didn't you just say that I'm pretty and smart and funny, and that it's fine if I was one who you were going to spend the rest of your life with?" she said scathingly.

"Yes, I did say-"

"Kiss me, then, Harry, and do it like you mean it this time...and not just to satisfy some twisted fantasy of a seven year old," she said fiercely.

And so he did. He took her face between his hands, leaned down and kissed her full on the lips. Ginny was taken by surprise; she didn't think Harry would really kiss her, but he was...and she could feel the intensity of his kiss, too. He was kissing her like he meant it.

"Oy."

They broke the kiss off to find Ron standing over them, a frown crowning his face. Harry looked flustered, but Ginny just groaned. Trust Ron to be tactless enough to ruin things when they were becoming good.

"We were just...you know, because of the children..." Harry said hastily.

"They want to see you in the living room," Ron cut him off. "They reckon they've found out how the Time Key functions."

"Have they now? That's great news!" Harry said brightly. "Well, you go on ahead. We'll gather up the kids and follow you to the living room."

Ron looked suspiciously between the two of them. "Don't worry about the children, mate, I'll keep an eye on them while you talk to the others in the living room," he said firmly, as if daring anyone to make an argument. "They're waiting for you, you know."

"Erm...thank you, Ron," Harry said uncertainly. He helped Ginny up to her feet, who in turn wrapped her arms around him. As they walked into the house, Ginny turned and stuck out her tongue at her brother, in a way which said, "We're together, and there's nothing that you can do about it."

**-----**

When Harry and Ginny had been talking to each other, Hera was busy cooking up a punishment for a certain redhead. Having made Zeus gather around a small army of garden gnomes, she spent the rest of her time training them to attack once that specific individual approached. She looked disdainfully as he intruded on Ginny and Harry's romantic moment, before turning to the gnomes, her hands on her hips.

"Right, remember what I taught you," she said quietly. "When that redhead comes near, what are you supposed to do?"

"Attack!" they squeaked.

She grinned. "That's right," she said, clapping her hands together. "That Ronald is going to wish he never met me."

"Don't blame him, really," Zeus mumbled, as he nursed the finger one gnome had bit. "If I were in his place, I would've wished I never even heard of you."

**-----**

"Ron tells us you found out how the Time Key works?"

When everyone in the living room nodded, Harry imagined he'd feel really happy. Instead, he felt his heart sink. He had gotten a little used to having those children around, and had grown rather fond of them. He was even getting accustomed to be called "dad". The idea of losing them quite so suddenly was quite disheartening. He almost wanted them to stay, but he knew that would be selfish on his part, because he wouldn't be able to care properly for those children, and not give them the attention they required. There was also the fact that he knew an adult version of him was waiting anxiously for his children to return.

"It's quite easy actually," Hermione informed them. "It's not surprising that the children managed to use it on their own. See this dial here? It has twelve marks around it, and each mark identifies a month. There are also miniscule marks between each other mark, and those signify the days. I would say the kids turned the dial around anticlockwise eleven times for it to transport them here."

"So, we just have to turn the dial clockwise eleven times from the mark they stopped at, and we'll have them transported back home," Bill carried on. "If we do it correctly, we can get them back to the point where they left, and this way their parents won't have to deal with the anxiety of losing them."

"We just turn the dial and the children are gone?" Ginny said dubiously.

"That's all we need to do," Bill said, nodding. "I'm sure you're eager to get rid of that bump of yours, eh, Gin?"

Ginny huffed. "Had a big laugh about me, did you?" she said scornfully. She patted her bump. "I won't be sad to see this go, but I will sort of miss those kids. They were fun to have around, if even for a short while. Right, Harry?"

Harry took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. "Never mind, we'll be able to see them in a good few years," he assured her. There was a loud hiccup, and Mrs. Weasley was blowing her nose into her napkin. Harry coughed embarrassedly. "Where are those kids? Ron's taking an awfully long time to get them in."

There was a howl of pain from the kitchen, and moments later the children came running into the room and into their parents' arms. The adults were in the process of drawing out their wands when...

"Bloody...effing....gnomes!!" Ron yelled. "Gerroff me, and stay out!"

A door slammed, and a rather dishevelled Ron came into the living room stormed into the living room. He had scratches all over his face and arms, along with an occasional mark indicating rows of sharp teeth. He glared at everyone with a look that clearly said, "Comment, and you die."

Hermione's face was gleaming with suppressed laughter. She took a tentative step towards him. "Umm...Ron-" she started.

"Not now, Hermione," he muttered.

"Yes, I understand, but there's a..." she said, giggling.

"Hermione, please!" he said, exasperated. Harry, though, noticed what Hermione was getting at, and Ron did, too, when the gnome that had been clinging to his back climbed up and bit his ear. He yowled in pain, and uttered a word which Harry deemed horrible enough that he had to clamp his hands over his daughter's ears, while Ginny did the same with her son. Ron then tossed the gnome out the open window. "I swear, those gnomes have it in for me for some reason!"

"That's ridiculous, Ronald," Mrs. Weasley said reproachfully.

"I mean it! They really did yell, 'Attack!' when I went to fetch the children! There were at least fifteen of them!" Ron exploded.

"It has to be a coincidence, Uncle Ron," Lily said, smiling sweetly. "They were acting rather normally before you came along! Weren't they, Jamie?"

"Sure were," Jamie agreed, bobbing his head.

Hermione quickly spoke before Ron could argue any further. "Harry, do you think we should...?" she said, and nodded towards the Time Key.

"Yes," Harry said, after exchanging a quick glance with Ginny. He leaned down and placed a hand on each of his children's shoulders. "Alright, children, we're going to play a little game now, what do you say?"

"Yes, Daddy!"

"See that Time Key over there? Well, we've decided all to play a game with it," he told them in his most gentle tones. "We're going to place it in the middle of the room, and we're all going to run at the same time towards it. But we're going to divide into pairs — you and James will be one pair, Mummy and I will be another pair, Hermione and Uncle Ron will be another pair..."

"Well, it's only natural since they're married!" Lily chirped.

"W-what did you say?!" Ron blurted out, while Hermione seemed to go into a state of permanent shock.

"We saw that coming, didn't we, Fred?" George said, grinning.

"We sure did, George," Fred agreed, sharing an identical grin.

Harry didn't find this quite surprising. He, like the twins, saw it coming as well...what with all the bickering and the blatantly obvious jealousy? However, it was crucial not to make the children realise how surprised everyone was, and he hastened to bring the conversation back to the Time Key and the "game" they were going to play. He kissed his daughter's forehead and turned her face back to him.

"So, we'll play together, alright?" he told them. "The winners get a bowl of ice-cream!"

"Yay! Ice-cream!" James said, clapping.

Ginny knelt down next to Harry. "Be careful...not to trip," she said quietly. "...while running that is. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"Yes, Mum," they intoned.

"How about you give us both a hug...for good luck?" Harry suggested. When they nodded, he and Ginny both pulled them into their arms and hugged them. When they released them, he smiled at them and said, "Make me proud and win, alright?"

Everything that happened next seemed to go slowly before Harry's eyes. He watched as Hermione discreetly set the dial, he watched as everyone gathered in pairs (Ron and Hermione hesitated before grabbing each other's hands), and then he watched as everyone ran for the Time Key, his children in the lead. Time seemed to freeze when together they touched the device. He caught a brief glimpse at their laughing, victorious faces before they vanished on the spot along with the device.

He staggered to a halt, and so did Ginny. They both stared silently at the spot where the twins vanished for a couple of moments, and then Ginny slipped her fingers through Harry's hand and leaned against his shoulder. "We'll meet them again, Harry," she whispered in reassuring tones. "You'll see."

However, several years later, after Voldemort had been defeated, the world had been rebuilt and Harry and Ginny had gotten married, a hospital in Eastern London found the happy couple sitting in a room, waiting to see their first image of their babies. The sonographer had already applied the transparent jelly on Ginny's round tummy, and now she and Harry were looking excitedly at the screen.

"I imagine you must be quite curious, Mr. and Mrs. Potter! This is your first image of your child, and you must know whether you're having a single baby, or if you're having twins!" the sonographer said cheerfully.

"Oh, we already know," Ginny said with a quiet giggle, and Harry squeezed her hand.

"You do?" the sonographer asked, looking puzzled.

"Never mind," Ginny said hastily. "Let's carry on with the sonogram, shall we?"

The sonographer places the ultrasound probe on Ginny's tummy and starts moving it around. Harry and Ginny gazed expectantly at the screen, waiting to see a fuzzy black and white image of their two children. Even though they knew what was coming, it didn't stop either of them from being completely excited.

"Well, there we go, there's your child," the sonographer announced. "See that tiny blob over there? That's going to be your future child. You won't be able to distinguish any of its features this early on in your pregnancy, of course, but...that's your child. Everything seems wonderful."

"Where...where's the other one?" Harry croaked.

"The other one?" the sonographer repeated.

"We're just having one child? Just this one child?" Harry demanded.

The sonographer looked taken aback. "Erm...there will be a chance for you to have more children in the future, Mr. Potter," she hastened to assure him.

"You don't understand! There has to be another blob!" Ginny cried, sounding scandalized. She tried to yank the ultrasound probe from the woman's hand to place it on her tummy again. "You have to check again! I'm sure we're having twins!"

"Mrs. Potter, I'm really sorry, but you are _not_ having twins!" the sonographer stated.

Ginny was close to tears. "Harry, where _is_ he?" she asked.

"I have no idea, Ginny, I have absolutely no idea," Harry murmured.

Somewhere above, Zeus stood peering down at the scene. He had a sort of exasperated look on his face, as if he knew that something of the like was going to happen sooner or later. He turned around to his wife, who was lounging lazily on a love seat, gazing into her mirror.

"Hera, you've messed up again. What are you going do about this? The Potters look terrified," he told her.

"Haven't I done enough for them already, Zeus? They can't expect me to do _everything_ for them!" she replied.

"Hera, they're going to think they killed their second child! You're the goddess of childbirth, too, for goodness sake!" he admonished her.

"Oh, fine, I'll just cast a simple memory charm on them and everyone else," she drawled. "Just after I make this kid realize how absolutely irresistible his French cousin is and that he must find a way to kiss her..."

"You just don't give up, do you?"

---

**A/N: Done! I'm sad to say that this over. You can't have too much of a good thing, I guess. Hehe. So, what did you think? Was it a good ending? Again, thanks for all the reviews you've sent.**

_- S.N.B. _


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